Baby Tim (Eventually) Meets the Avengers
by Shara Raizel
Summary: Tony is working in Avengers Tower when Batman appears with a de-aged Tim Drake in his arms. Looks like Tony gets to have the chance to raise a young Tim after all. During this time those around him find out that they may have to revise their opinions of the genius billionaire playboy philanthropist.
1. Chapter 1

This was a stray plot bunny that got to me while I was reading a bunch of de-aged Tim Drake fan fics and I found myself wondering how Tony would handle it and thus this was born. :P

This doesn't take place in any of my plotted sequel storylines, but I figure it takes place sometime between Winter Soldier and Age of Ultron, but Tony didn't remove the arc reactor at the end of Iron Man 3 in this AU. Enjoy. :)

* * *

Chapter 1: Tony Gets a Nest Full of Robins

Tony Stark stared in bewilderment at the figure stepping out of the shadows in the lab on his private floor. The man's sudden appearance itself wasn't a surprise - only Batman knew how to get into Tony's private suit of floors without JARVIS having to let him in or alerting him of an intruder - but the tiny form cradled in the man's arms was. A small face was barely visible beyond the man's heavy cape, but he knew that face.

"Is that… Tim?!" Tony choked, dropping the new arrowheads that he'd been working on for Clint and hurried over past his bots who were now whirring in distress.

"Yes," Batman sighed, shrugging back his cape and allowing Tony to take the small child from him.

"What happened?" Tony demanded.

"The Titans had a run-in with Klarion, the Witchboy," the other man grunted. "Apparently Superboy and Kid Flash riled him up enough that he sent a hex at Robin, but Red Robin took the hit himself. Robin brought him home only a few hours ago."

"How is he?" Tony asked, worried when he saw how puffy and red his deaged kid's eyes were.

"Physically Tim is fine. Mentally, though, he's a bit traumatized. He didn't recognize anyone but Batman. He kept asking for his mother and father. When I told him that his parents were away on a trip, he demanded that he be brought to you. From what we were able to get out of him, we've determined that he's approximately two or three years old."

"And Robin?"

"He's fine. A bit rattled, perhaps, but fine."

"Rattled?"

"Tim started crying and screamed at him when he awoke mid-flight on their way back to Gotham. He managed to squirm out of his seat on the Batwing and crawled into a small storage space where Robin couldn't get him out. Tim accused Robin of kidnapping him. When Robin landed the Batwing he nearly raced down the ramp to get me. He'd never admit it, but I think Tim unnerved him. Tim wouldn't stop screaming and crying until he saw me and even then he wouldn't come out until I'd promised to bring him to you."

"So what do we do?" Tony asked.

"According to Zatanna, the spell should wear off within the week," Batman said.

"So we just wait?" Tony asked, scowling a bit. A week was a long time. What if the Avengers were called in for something?

"I'd keep him with me, but he clearly doesn't trust me much even though I'm Batman, and in this state, he doesn't know who the others are."

"Perhaps, but it wouldn't hurt for his brothers to come for a visit now, would it?" Tony asked.

"You'd let them stay in your tower?" Batman asked.

"Your family has always had access," Tony huffed. "Where do you think Robin goes after you two have a fight?"

"...I always assumed he was spending time with Nightwing."

"Dickie-boy doesn't have hamsters or cool gadgets for him to test, B," Tony said, grinning smugly. "Besides, at present I'm the only Avenger in the tower. Capsicle, the Hawk and Widow are on some SHIELD mission, Thor is still on Asgard as far as I know, and Bruce is away on some sort of meditative retreat for the weekend."

Tim whimpered in his arms, so Tony bounced him gently, like Janet had shown him when Tim had been this young the first time around. Tim's big blue watery eyes fluttered open and stared at him for a minute before he began crying.

"TONY!" the kid sobbed as he squirmed until he had his arms wrapped around Tony's neck.

"Hey, Sport," Tony said, fixing his hold on the child so that he didn't drop him. "Easy there, Timmy, everything's going to be alright."

It took a couple of minutes, but Tim eventually calmed down, his face mashed against Tony's neck making the man cringe a bit. There was a reason he hadn't really been involved in Tim's life until he'd grown up a bit. He simply wasn't used to crying children.

"Thanks, Bats," Tony huffed when he saw the man's small barely-there smirk.

"Tank-you, Batman," Tim mumbled, peeking a doe eye at the costumed vigilante.

"You're welcome," Batman said. "I'll send Hood your way for backup."

"Great," Tony sighed. Jason wasn't going to be happy that Tony had neglected to tell him that he was alone in New York without available backup from the team. "Thanks again, Bats. Don't be a stranger now."

"Bye bye, Batman," Tim yawned before pressing his face back into Tony's neck.

In the blink of an eye, Batman was gone.

"Right. Time for bed," Tony said softly as he padded out of the lab with an armful of de-aged Tim. "JARVIS, save all open projects, have the bots clean up, and shut the lab down for the night."

"Yes, Sir," his AI said. "Good night, Sir. Good night, Master Timothy."

* * *

The next morning Tony got up at the acceptable hour of 8 AM and took Tim shopping for some clothes. He wasn't sure where Bruce had dug up whatever Tim was currently wearing, but it was clearly something that hadn't seen the light of day since Bruce was Tim's size. And Tim was tiny as a toddler, meaning that the clothes were probably something Bruce had worn as an infant and that just wouldn't do.

So Tony went to the nearest children's clothing outlet and bought a week's worth of clothes that would actually fit the boy. Then they went to a few toy stores and bought some toys as well. Contrary to popular belief, Tony was very good at disguising himself and keeping a low profile when he needed to. He was best friends with Batman for goodness sake. No one recognized him and therefore no one questioned why genius, billionaire, playboy, and philanthropist Tony Stark was shopping for clothes and items that were clearly for the child in his company.

While they were out, Tony chatted with Tim, who was only too happy to tell Tony what he'd been up to (what he thought was) recently. Apparently Tim had just turned three. Tim hadn't met Dick Grayson until three months after his third birthday, so of course Tony and Batman were the only people Tim would be familiar with.

Even at three years of age, however, Tim was smart enough to realize how how much older Tony was now and how different things were in the fourteen years it had been since Tim had originally been three. So Tony, being the honest person he was when it came to his son, told Tim the truth. He'd never known how to handle a young child, let alone know how to talk to one, so he told him everything. That he was Tim's biological father, that Tim was supposed to be seventeen, not three, and even about Janet and Jack Drake's deaths, Bruce Wayne's status as Tim's adoptive father, and Tony's new career as Iron Man and an Avenger. The three year old was amazed, shocked, sad, and excited about the various things Tony told him. He reacted in ways that Tony hadn't realized he'd missed. His son had become such a serious person with a very dry and sarcastic wit, and though he loved that boy, he hadn't realized how much he'd missed his son's more childish quirks and open expressions. He'd forgotten that Tim had a hard time pronouncing r's and making the "th" sound. It was adorable.

When they made it back to Avengers Tower, Jason was waiting for them.

"Shit, it's true," the young man said, staring at Tim who shyly tucked his face into Tony's neck.

"Language," Tony huffed. "Timmy is a very impressionable three year old."

"Ah, sorry," Jason stammered, taking some of the bags Tony held out to him.

"Timmy," Tony said, bouncing his kid a bit so that he'd look at him. "This is Jason, your older brother."

Tim looked at Jason curiously. "'Llo," he mumbled.

"The kid's tiny," Jason sighed. "You sure he's three?"

"Yes," Tony said at the same time Tim did with this adorable pouty scowl.

Jason grinned. "Aww! Ain't he cute?"

Tim wrinkled his nose.

"The cutest," Tony cooed, smacking a loud and obnoxious scratchy kiss to his boy's cheek before setting him down.

"Daaad!" Tim whined, wiping at his cheek.

Jason and Tony snickered at the indignant toddler.

"You mind watching him for a few minutes while I put these away?" Tony asked, holding up the bags of clothes he'd purchased.

"Sure," Jason said, staring down at his now nervous looking little brother before scooping him up. "C'mon, Tiny Tim. Why don't we check out these cool toys your daddy bought for you?"

Tony chuckled, waving reassuringly at his boy before heading back to his bedroom where he stuffed the child's clothes into an empty drawer. Then he had Jarvis order a pizza for lunch and joined Jason and Tim in the living room where the boys were building something out of the legos he'd bought.

"Pizza should be here soon," he said as he plopped down on the couch and watched Tim tentatively put some blocks together from Jason's lap in front of a coffee table. "What are we making, gentlemen?"

"A robot," Jason said.

"Ah-2-Dee-2," Timmy corrected, "Jay, you need da blue blocks. Ah-2 is blue! Not wed!"

Jason was totally picking up red blocks on purpose just to hear Timmy struggle with his r's.

"You don't say?" Tony asked, looking amused. "I think we might need to open a few more legos than what is currently out for that. What is R2 going to be able to do?"

And that's how they spent their afternoon. They actually made a mini R2D2 robot out of legos and whatever spare parts Tony cannibalized from various electronics around the room to make him work. Then the three of them cooked dinner. It was a team effort. Jason was a surprisingly good cook (or maybe not so surprising, since the young man had learned cooking under Alfred Pennyworth's tutelage during his time as Bruce's ward), so he made the main dish (chicken parmesan) while Tim helped Tony put together the salad and butter garlic bread. After they ate they cleaned up, got Tim dressed in his brand new Iron Man footie pajamas, and settled down to watch Star Wars: A New Hope.

"Don't think I forgot, Tony," Jason growled softly after Tim fell asleep halfway through the movie.

"Didn't think you would," Tony huffed.

"Why didn't you call me?"

"Because I'm the adult here, Jayce," Tony said with a scowl. "I don't need supervision anymore than you do."

"No, but you and I know better than anyone how important it is to have backup on standby no matter the occasion. Our lives as heroes make us high profile targets. Yours especially."

Jason leveled an intense but concerned glare at him.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you the other Avengers weren't around," Tony sighed. "But even so, you do know that I have a direct line to the Batcave, right? If I was in any serious trouble, Bats would be here in minutes or at least send in Superman if his vampire-ish tendencies prevented him from coming himself."

Jason snorted. "I thought I was your PA and bodyguard."

"Eh," Tony said, flapping his hand. "You were busy tracking that drug cartel you and your Outlaw friends have been after for the past month."

"Roy and Kori can take care of themselves and handle those douchebags alright on their own. And if not, Dickie is always ready to lend a hand and take my place if they need a bat's help," Jason pointed out.

"Are you saying that Dick wouldn't come help me if I were in need?" Tony gasped, hand on his chest in a dramatic scandalized fashion.

"Dickie likes me more than you," Jason said, smirking.

"Well of course he does," Tony sniffed. "You're his brother and I'm just an annoying friend of Bruce's that he has to put up with on occasion."

"Nah," Jason snickered, "You're the cool uncle that everyone else loves and he dislikes because when you're around he's not the one everyone in the room pays attention too. Dude's an attention whore. You throw off his groove."

Tony snickered and then sighed. "In all honesty, though, Dick can't stand me because I can't help but poke fun at him all the time, and he hates that I didn't step up to take Tim in after his mother died while Jack was in a coma."

Jason shrugged before leveling another glare at him. "Getting back on topic, Tony, I'd appreciate it if you'd at least let me know when you're going to be flying solo for a while when your so-called teammates are out doing other shit. I read Bruce's reports on the AIM debacle and that shit can't happen again. You have a lot of people - myself and Tim especially - that care about you and are willing to step up and have your back."

Tony opened his mouth - not quite sure what to say, but Jason cut him off anyway.

"Dude, I know you need your space and that I have my own life and jobs, but if I know that you're without your team, I can make sure to keep myself available or plan a contingency that allows me to leave an op. in case you need me."

"You don't need to do that," Tony said softly.

"Don't care. I want to," Jason said, his stare intense and imploring Tony to realize how serious he was being. "Don't you know how much you've done for me? Tony, Bruce might have been my legal dad, guardian, or whatever, but you're the one that has always been there for me. You're the one I think about most when people talk about parents. You helped me get through shit when things with Bruce and Dick were bad and when I was still learning how to be a son, a brother, Robin, part of a family. You were there for me and helped me through the pit madness after I died and was resurrected. You gave me a home and helped me get my head on straight. You gave me a job and a life beyond the vengeance that I originally sought. You… you helped me get my family back. My life back. I owe you everything."

"You owe me nothing, Jay," Tony said, reaching out and gripping the back of Jason's neck in that hold that both Tim and Jason (and Damian) found grounding and comforting. "That's what family does. At least, that's what everyone tries to tell me. I didn't do any of that for any favors or out of any sense of obligation. I did it because I wanted to help you. Because I care about you."

"Then let me do the same," Jason said, gruffly. "Let me have your back, like you've always had mine."

"Alright, Jay," Tony sighed, squeezing the back of Jason's neck gently before letting go. "Alright."

They watched the rest of the movie in silence and then went to bed without another word afterwards.

* * *

The next morning Tony spent some time down in the workshop trying to wrap up some of his SI projects so that Pepper couldn't be too crabby with him when he asked her to reschedule all of his appointments for that week while Jason kept Tim occupied. It was nearing noon when JARVIS alerted him that he had visitors.

"Sir, Mr. Grayson and young Master Wayne are here to see you."

"Have them take the back private elevator and send them up," Tony sighed, closing his projects. He'd gotten all but one of them finished.

Dick and Damian were just stepping out of the elevator when he reached his floor's entryway.

"Dick, Damian, good to see you!" Tony said, noting that Damian's right hand was in a cast that went up to just below his elbow and that the boy was wearing a backpack while Dick carried a small duffle. It appeared that he was going to have another guest. "What happened to you, Dames?"

"Fractured my wrist," Damian tisked. "Father's taken me off duty for a month and said I had to stay with you."

"Until Tim's back to normal at any rate. And speaking of Tim, where is he?" Dick asked, frowning.

"He's been playing with Jason while I work on some projects for Stark Industries," Tony sighed.

"So you've been working instead of taking care of Tim?" Dick scowled.

"Yes. So? I can as long as Jason's with him," Tony shrugged, before taking off towards the living room where he knew Jason was playing with Tim.

Dick scowled even more, but Tony ignored that. He didn't need Dick's approval. He already knew he was a crap parent.

They found Tim curled up on Jason's lap while they watched Wall-E. Tony found it amusing that Jay had the toddler wrapped up in a loose hug. Apparently Timmy had been up to his usual disappearing acts.

"Hey," Tony said, even though Jason knew they were there. It was more for Tim, who lit up like a fucking Christmas tree when he saw Tony.

"DADDY!" Timmy squealed, sliding off Jason's lap before running over. Tony felt a small spark of ugly satisfaction when Dick made a sound like someone had punched him in the gut. Dick either still didn't know that Tim was biologically Tony's and thought Tony was taking advantage of his currently-a-baby brother, or he was upset that Tim ran to Tony first instead of him. Maybe it was both.

Tony crouched and caught his little boy when he started to trip and hugged him close.

"Hey, Timmy! Are you behaving for big brother Jay?" Tony asked.

"No," Jason complained. "The kid's snuck away twice on me. How is he already a freaking ninja at three? I turn my back for one second and he's gone. It took me nearly half an hour to find him the first time."

"Were you playing hide and seek with Jay?" Tony asked his son.

Tim giggled, then caught sight of Dick and Damian and tucked his head down under Tony's chin shyly.

"Ah, nearly forgot you wouldn't remember," Tony said, before turning so that Dick and Damian could see Tim better. "Remember how I told you that you had more brothers? This is your older brother Dick and little brother Damian. Well, he's usually younger than you, but until the spell wears off and you return to your normal age again, he's your big brother too."

"You told him?" Dick asked, glaring at Tony.

"He may be three, but Tim's smart enough to realize that I'm a lot older than I was when he was originally this age and that today's technology is more advanced than what he's used to."

Dick opened his mouth - probably to tell Tony he was wrong and something about protecting Tim's innocence - when Jason butted in.

"Did you get all your projects done, Tony?"

"All but one," Tony huffed. "It should only take me a couple more hours. JARVIS, did Pepper reschedule those meetings?"

"Yes, sir," JARVIS responded. "Miss Potts has moved all of this week's meetings to later in the month and has sent an apology to Senator Miles, stating that you are unable to attend his annual charity gala."

"Great!" Tony grinned. "I didn't want to go to that thing anyway. Wire the good Senator half a million dollars as a donation."

"Yes, Sir."

"Why are you canceling all of your plans for this week?" Damian asked.

"What do you mean why?" Tony frowned, settling Tim on his hip. "Batman said that Tim could be this way for a week. Contrary to what Dickie thinks, I actually want to spend time with you and Tim. That's why I was finishing up all those projects this morning. If I get them done and send them out today, no one has to bug me for them later in the week. That makes Pepper and the board happy at SI, and New SHIELD gets new toys to play with until they want something new next week."

"So Daddy done?" Tim asked.

"Not yet, Timmy," Tony said, his heart aching a bit when he saw Tim's eyes go sad and his lower lip push out a bit in a pout. "But I'm due for a lunch break anyway. What should we have?"

Tim lit up again. "Gwilled cheese!"

"Gwilled cheese it is," Tony chuckled. "That fine with you guys?"

"Yup," Jason sighed as he paused the movie and got up from the couch.

"That is satisfactory," Damian drawled, while Dick only nodded.

"Great!" Tony said, before turning to Damian. "Why don't you go put your things in your room and meet us in the kitchen, Dames? Then later you can show Timmy the hamsters. He hasn't seen them yet."

"Daddy has hamstews?!" Tim cried.

"I sure do! Your brother Damian can show you them after lunch."

"Yay!"

Damian huffed, but Tony could see a small upturn at the corners of his lips as he snatched his duffle from Dick with his good hand before taking off down the hall towards the bedrooms. Tony had a feeling that Damian was going to get along just fine with mini-Timmy. Those two had always been able to bond over the hamsters.

"Damian has a room here?" Dick asked as the rest of them headed into the kitchen.

"Since Bruce assumes that Damian always heads to your place whenever he disappears, I can't help but wonder where on Earth you think he goes whenever you lot get on his nerves and he takes off," Tony sighed. "Of course he has a room here. You all do. Even Alfred and the girls. Not that any of you other than Tim, Dames, and Jay have ever been here long enough to stay overnight."

Jason looked between Tony and Dick and sighed.

"Hey, Tony, why don't you go get the munchkin all washed up for lunch while I get started on those sandwiches?"

Tony only shrugged before leaving with Tim for the washroom down the hall.

Jason waited until the man and kid were gone before speaking to his older brother.

"You do realize that he considers all of us family, right?" Jason said softly as he turned on the stove and started buttering bread and putting together their grilled cheese sandwiches. "In case you haven't figured it out yet in all the years you've known both Stark and Tim, let me spell it out for you, Big Bird. Tim's Tony's biological son. But the way Tony was, back when Timmers was just a baby the first time around, he knew that he had no business being a father raising a kid, so he left Tim with his mother and made no arrangements for any sort of custody or visitation rights. Tony didn't want anything to do with a baby. But from what I've learned about Janet Drake over the years, Dickie, the woman didn't plan on being much of a mother either because of her job, no matter how much she knew she'd love her kid. She knew she had to keep Tony in Tim's life, so she convinced Jack to make Tony their kid's Godfather. The arrangement was messed up and complicated, but Tony became Tim's dad in the end anyway. You and I both know Tim is just as smart as Tony and Bruce. He figured out who Batman and Robin were at age nine, for crying out loud, just by watching us on the news and at night through a camera lense! So of course Timmy figured out who his real dad was after growing up around the man.

"And Tony may think he's a crap parent - no thanks to opinions like yours - but he's actually pretty good at it. Sure, he may not be conventional by any means, but the guy has always been honest and upfront. I can't tell you how much Baby Bird, the Bat Brat, and I appreciate that about him. He doesn't mince words or sugar coat things in an attempt to try and protect us from things that can hurt us. There is a reason why Bruce made Tony Damian's Godfather when he legally claimed the brat. He can see how good Tony is at relating to Damian and I. Tony's really good at relating to us troubled kids, so it kinda sucks for us that you hate Tony so much. For Tim especially. Now I don't know what it is that you hate about the guy, Dick, but lay off. Tony's always done what he believed was best for Tim at the time.

"And it's not just Tim these days either. I can't tell you how many times I've found Mini Bat reading in his room here in Avengers Tower, training in the private gym, or playing with the hamsters in the lab while Tony tinkers. Cass shows up here on occasion too for some peace and quiet. She likes playing with the bots. And Steph usually comes around with either Cass, Bat-Brat, or Tim more often than not. Hell, Barbara comes by at least once a month to talk tech with Tony, too, and Alfred comes by every now and then to personally restock this floor's fridge and make sure that Tony's eating something other than takeout."

Jason looked up from the stovetop and saw Dick leaning against the counter, staring at the floor. Damian had ninja-ed into the room at some point and was silently watching them from the dining table.

"Tim may be Tony's son, Dick, but so are we, kinda. We're like his nephews at the very least. Bruce and he are like brothers, though I'm sure they'd never admit it," Jason huffed, returning his gaze to their food and flipped the sandwiches. "Have you really never noticed the little things he does? The upgrades he's helped Bruce and Barbara make for our equipment? The fabrics and armor he's specially designed just for our suits? I know for a fact that you've gotten birthday and Christmas presents from him, because he's never missed one of mine or Tim's or Damian's, Bruce's, Alfred's, Cass's, Steph's, or Babs's. And I find that pretty incredible, especially now that he's got a team of his own, and has responsibilities to them as well as SHIELD and SI.

"It always bugs me whenever I hear someone go on about how selfish Tony is, when in actuality… he's probably one of the most generous people that I know," Jason said softly, putting sandwiches on plates. "It wasn't you or Bruce, or anyone I knew back in Gotham that brought me back from the effects of the Lazarus Pit, Dick. It was Tony, and I'm not saying that to be cruel. Tony took the time and made the effort to reach out when everyone else just wanted to lock me up because I was crazy and mad with Pit Rage. What's great about Tony Stark is that if he believes in you, he doesn't give up on you no matter how hopeless it seems. And haven't you ever wondered why he doesn't try to avoid you even though you've always clashed and gotten on each other's nerves? Why you still have access to the Tower? Why you even have a room here even though he thinks you may only rarely if never use it? It's because he cares about you, Dick, as much as he does the rest of us. You're family to him because you are to the rest of us and you make us happy, even if you two haven't ever gotten along. But he hopes that one day, you will."

"What Todd is trying to say, Grayson," Damian huffed, butting in, "is that we would all greatly appreciate it if you'd cease your childish grudge against whatever perceived slight you believe was made against you in the past and try to get along with Stark. As amusing as it is to watch you two participate in such childish squabbles, it is beneath you both."

"From the mouths of hell spawn, Dickie," Jason said, smirking, ignoring the glare Damian sent his way in favor of putting the first two sandwiches on plates and sliding them over to his oldest and youngest brothers before starting to cook three more.

At that moment Tony came back in with Tim on his hip and half his shirt drenched.

"Having trouble with the sink?" Jason snickered.

"No, just an excitable toddler," Tony huffed before handing Timmy to Dick, who was quick to abandon his sandwich and take the squirming child.

Timmy froze instantly, looking fearfully over at Tony as the man began to leave the kitchen again.

"I'll be right back. I'm going to change my shirt," Tony said.

Tim whimpered the moment Tony was out of sight.

"It's okay, Timmers," Jason said soothingly from where he stood by the stove, flipping sandwiches. "Tony'll be right back."

Dick began to rock the increasingly upset toddler and began to coo anything reassuring and sweet sounding he could think of to get his little brother to calm down. Tim quieted and allowed Dick to hold him, but the moment Tony returned, Timmy was squirming and reaching for his daddy.

"What's all the fuss about?" Tony cried, scooping the child out of Dick's slipping grasp and bounced Tim in his arms. He even dipped the boy a few times until the child was squealing with laughter.

"How…?" Dick gaped, watching Tony rub noses with Timmy, who was now all giggles and rosy cherub cheeks.

"He always liked it when I dipped him when he was this little the first time," Tony chuckled. "It's the adrenaline. Kids like a good thrill. Janet hated it when I did it though, because she was afraid I'd drop him. I never have though, so her fear was completely unfounded."

"And with that sickeningly sweet bit of domestic sap, lunch is served," Jason said, setting out a plate for Tim and Tony on the table - one sandwich with the crust cut off and cut into triangles - and a bag of chips to be passed around.

"Gwilled cheese!" Tim squealed.

Tony laughed as he sat down with the squirming toddler in his lap. "Now what do you say to Jay, Sport?"

"Tank you!"

"Gosh darn it, Baby Bird, why are you so darn cute?" Jason smirked, pinching Timmy's cheeks.

"Jay! Stop dat!" Timmy scowled.

"Todd, cease your buffoonery and eat your lunch," Damian snapped. "Leave the childish nonsense to the actual child in the room."

"Shut it, brat," Jason sneered. "You think Timmy's cute too."

"What I think in regards to Timothy's current nature is irrelevant to your sappy commentary. As if I'd lower myself to your level and degrade a child. Cease and desist so that the rest of us can eat in peace."

Tony and Dick ignored Jason and Damian's bitching for the most part, though Tony always got a kick out of hearing such sophisticated vocabulary coming out of the 11 year old's mouth. Timmy had no idea what was going on so he just munched happily on his food, kicking his feet out back and forth like children sometimes do, though he did hit Tony's shins every once in awhile.

After lunch, Tony left Timmy in his brothers' (hopefully) capable hands and returned to the lab to finish the last project he had due that week. He was nearly done with the new upgrades for SHIELD's new Helicarriers (because that bullshit in DC was not happening again, damn it) when JARVIS announced that Dick was there to see him and the young man walked in. Tony was honestly surprised. Dick never sought him out, completely content to ignore and avoid Tony in favor of being with his brothers, especially if there was a chance to hang out with Jason or Tim, who weren't around as much as they used to. Between their usual patrols, being out of Gotham on missions with their respective groups of super friends, and their daytime jobs as Tony's PA/Bodyguard (Jason) and CEO of Wayne Enterprises (Tim), the two middle Wayne sons didn't have a lot of free time to just hang out.

For a few minutes neither spoke, so Tony continued to ignore Dick's presence and finished up the designs, sending them to New SHIELD. Only then did he turn around and watched Dick examine a few of his opened, but pending project designs. The Batfam projects in particular, including upgrades for Dick's escrima sticks that he was planning on giving Bruce to give to Dick for the man's 24th birthday.

"Hey, spoilers," Tony said, closing out the designs. "Those are for your birthday, Chum."

He was surprised to see Dick's adam's apple bob for a second before the guy's expression went from blank to devastated.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Tony asked, concerned as he moved to stand at the younger man's side. "Is Jay being an ass again? Ignore it. He gets pissy every now and then 'cause of residual Pit effects. Or is it something Dames said? He's a brat at the best of times, but he really does like you, Dickie. You and I are the only ones that can get away with giving him nicknames. He says he hates them, but he really doesn't. They make him feel wanted and that we care. Bruce is the same way, actually, which is why he's so fun to tease."

"It's not that… I owe you an apology," Dick said gruffly.

"Come again?" Tony asked, frowning. "What for?"

"For… being a brat, I guess. I've… never really been fair to you, Tony."

"Did Jason send you? I'd suspect Tim, but he's currently three and doesn't grow into his meddling stage until he turns nine," Tony rambled, but was happy to see Dick crack a smile.

"No, Jay didn't send me," Dick huffed, crossing his arms and leaning against the work table beside him. "He did give me one hell of a lecture, though, when you went to wash Tim up for lunch."

"He's been doing that alot lately," Tony sighed. "I got one last night for not informing him that the other Avengers are out of town for the weekend. Must be a side effect of his sessions with Dr. Jane."

"Dr. Jane?" Dick asked, looking bewildered.

Tony ground his jaw shut. Shit. Jason clearly hadn't told anyone other than Bruce and Alfred that he was seeing a psychiatrist a few times a month with Tony either in Malibu or New York. He was actually thinking about asking Dr. Patrick Jane to move out to New York and offer him a room in Avengers Tower on retainer. Goodness knew that the other Avengers, particularly Clint and Steve, could use a shrink to talk to after missions and disasters like The Battle of New York and the shit show in DC at the Triskelion a few months back.

"Friend of mine that I see on occasion," Tony said as offhandedly as he could.

"Jason's seeing a psychologist?" Dick asked.

"He's a behavioral specialist, actually," Tony snapped a bit. "He's quite a sarcastic sonofabitch. Good at poker. Will clean you right out because spotting tells is his superpower. Anyway, you were apologizing for something?"

Dick shifted uncomfortably again.

"I haven't really been fair to you in regards to your relationship with Tim," Dick said.

"Please don't phrase it that way ever again," Tony said, making a face. "I'm not dating my son. I have and own my quirks but pedophilia and incest aren't one of them."

"Will you please be serious?" Dick snapped. "God, why do you make things so difficult?"

"Because, honestly, you're as easy to rile up as Rhodey and Bruce used to be and it's reflex by now for me to say such things. It's only because instead of growing use to and becoming immune to my particular brand of humor, you've done your best to ignore it and avoid me whenever possible," Tony said, horribly blunt. "What can I say? I'm used to pushing people's buttons and getting a rise out of them. I'm infuriating that way. Tim and Jason would say it's my defence mechanism to keep others away at arm's reach."

Tony swallowed and turned away. That had been a little too honest.

"But why?" Dick asked.

"Because it's the only way outside of a boardroom or away from a camera that I know how to interact with other people," Tony said softly. "Before Rhodey, before Bruce… all I had was Howard, my mother, and our family butler, Edwin Jarvis. Practically from birth I was taught how to act in front of a camera, how to behave in front of investors and board members of dear Dad's company, and lived every second of my life under a microscope. … I was a lot like Damian, actually. I had to be the perfect heir. The perfect son. I had to be smart and charming… but when I started going to school… I was leagues ahead of my peers. I was a freak. I couldn't relate to anyone because no one liked the privileged smartass child of the Stark family who was the son of the man who helped create devastating weapons like the Atom Bomb. I had to quickly learn how to charm my peers as well as I was able to charm those my parents needed me to be the perfect heir for. Clever quips and witty sarcasm filled my repertoire and even though that helped me get by, it never earned me any real friends. I became a person people love to hate."

It was quiet for a few moments as Dick digested what Tony had said and Tony flashed back to his miserable childhood. He suddenly became really grateful for one fact.

"You say you owe me an apology, Dick," Tony said softly, "but I owe you my thanks."

"For what?" Dick asked, puzzled.

"For providing a light for Tim that I never found in my own childhood," Tony said softly. "I may have been there for Tim as he was growing up, but you were the first person he came to idolize and latch onto, lifting him out of his lonely shell. I didn't meet Bruce and Rhodey until I was in my teens. Tim had the horrible misfortune of being there the night your parents died, but it was your kindness that made the biggest impression on him that night. He was only three months older than he currently is now, but that night left a great impression on him. An impression that lasts to this day. Your promise to perform a quadruple somersault just for him remained with him clear enough for him to recognize you when you performed that same trick as Robin several years later. You gave him hope and a hero to idolize in an otherwise lonely childhood. Then you later became his mentor and brother when he was 13-14 years old. He may still begrudge you a bit for firing him from the Robin mantle, but you have and always will be one of the most important people in his life."

Dick shut his eyes tightly, hands clenched on his arms.

"So now you've apologized for being, excuse the pun, a dick," Dick laughed brokenly, "and I've thanked you for being there for my kid, who you've only just found out is mine. We cool now?"

"Yeah," Dick sighed. "I guess we are."

"Great, we talked, dealt with enough icky mushy feelings enough for a year, I'd say, so let's go back to being the manchildren that annoy the shit out of each other and go find out what the kiddos are up to. I'm done with all my work now, and unless something Avenger-y comes up, I'm free from any responsible adult-y stuff for the rest of the week."

Dick snorted, but nodded with his patent beaming grin.

Tony and Dick found the others in what Jason had dubbed the "game room" next to the lab where the hamsters were usually found. JARVIS must have lured all of the hamsters out of the lab's habitats and tubes and kept them detained within the game room in anticipation of Damian and Tim's visit. Jason and Damian were currently racing a few of the many hamsters around a length of obstacles they'd assembled. Little Timmy was sitting right next to them watching Tiny Nim roll around in his hamster ball. They stayed there playing with and racing hamsters until dinner and then settled in to watch Cars.

Dick left after the movie to return to Gotham for patrol, but promised that he'd be back in the morning.

* * *

So no avengers have appeared just yet, but they'll start popping up next chapter. Jason and Dick decided that they wanted some of the spotlight before any of them showed up. :P

I have to admit that I have really come to like writing Damian's character. He's popped up alot in my writing this month from from my newest addition to the Tony Stark...Dad? fic, my Grayson's Moving Castle fic, and this. I hope I'm writing him well. :)


	2. Chapter 2

Ok, some notes before you begin. After rereading the first chapter several times (every time) before I started writing, revising and adding on to this new chapter, I realized the I always referred to SHIELD as just SHIELD and that I didn't really reference to anything in Winter Soldier, which was supposed to have happened before this fic. Because of this, it felt jaring to me as the writer to read these two chapters together, when it's suddenly a thing in chapter 2, so some edits have been made to the first chapter to help create a better flow and continuity. So if you're up to it, I suggest rereading chapter 1 with it's new edits and THEN reading this one if you care about that sort of thing.

That is all for now. Enjoy. :)

* * *

Chapter 2: Revelations and First Meetings

Monday morning started out quiet when Tony awoke. Timmy was still snoozing softly in his Iron Man footie pajamas as the man slipped out of bed for a quick shower. After he got ready for the day in a pair of comfortable sweatpants and his favorite AC/DC tee, he padded down the hall to the kitchen and started making coffee. As he waited for the machine to finish brewing, he pondered whether or not it was worth the effort to actually make himself breakfast when he knew that whatever Jason cooked whenever he woke up would taste a million times better. Then JARVIS made an announcement.

" _Sir, Captain Rogers, Agent Romanov, and Agent Barton have just arrived at the tower. Dr. Banner also returned from his retreat a short time ago and is wondering if you'd care to join him and the others for breakfast._ "

Tony frowned as he poured himself a cup of coffee and took a sip. Bruce Banner's cooking was just as good as Jason's if not a bit more exotic due to the gamma specialist's various adventures abroad avoiding General Ross and all the other army assholes that wanted to capture and detain the Hulk. However, while the Avengers were somewhat familiar with seeing Jason around the Tower because of his job as Tony's PA/Bodyguard, they had not met either Dick, Tim or Damian.

Tony might act like he was carefree, but he'd been so careful over the years to keep the fact that he had a kid and a close relationship with the Wayne family the only aspects of his private life under wraps. It really said something about his capabilities, determination and skill, that even SHIELD hadn't known before their Hydra faction was discovered and (as far as he was aware) still didn't know about his son. Of course, Tim was 17 - nearly 18 - now, and didn't really need Tony to keep their relationship so hush-hush. They'd even told Pepper, Happy and Rhodey the truth around the time the Avengers had formed.

But the question now, was how much to let Banner and the other Avengers in? It had been a little over 2 years since the Avengers had formed to fight off the Chitauri invasion, and despite splitting up and going on individual missions on occasion, they'd still banned together to take care of bigger threats, like isolated Hydra bases. Even Thor had started to come back to help them clean up the Hydra faction of SHIELD's mess, especially once it'd been discovered that while they'd recovered the Tesseract and sent it off to Asgard, Loki's scepter had gone MIA sometime before they'd discovered that parts of SHIELD were Hydra. But the point of Tony's musings over his team, was the fact that he trusted them all to have his back in battle. The question was did he trust them enough with his private life - with the secret he'd kept for almost 18 years now?

It had taken him years to finally decide to tell Pepper, Happy, and Rhodey about Tim, and he'd known them for most of his adult life. They'd been with him through his ups and downs, his greatest successes and most disastrous failures. And he knew all about them too. Sure, he had to have JARVIS help him remember all of the important dates, like birthdays, holidays and the like, but he considered them family. There wasn't anything that he wouldn't do for those three.

The Avengers? There was still so much he didn't know about them. He still got into heated debates and petty disagreements with Steve, he wasn't sure if he could ever fully trust Natasha to tell him the whole truth about anything, Barton was still someone he hadn't interacted with much outside of a mission and therefore knew next to nothing about the man beyond what he was capable of in the field, and Thor had left soon after the Battle of New York and had only just started returning to Earth, so he was in the same boat as Barton. The only Avenger Tony felt he could truly connect to and say for certain that they were someone he considered a good friend was Bruce Banner and, therefore, the Hulk. Tony and Banner just connected on an intellectual level, whereas he and Hulk bonded over laying destruction to the baddie of the week's plans. If there was anyone on the Avengers he might not mind revealing his secret to, it was his fellow Science Bro. But did he dare do so now, when his son was de-aged and more vulnerable than he usually was?

" _Sir?_ "

Tony startled, realizing that he'd gotten lost in thought and had failed to come up with a response despite his pondering.

"Tell him Tony'll be right down, JARV," Jason's voice suddenly said, startling Tony once more. The younger man only grinned at him as he hitched a yawning mini-Timmy up on his hip while Damian quietly skulked behind. "Go on, Tony. I got the little peoples."

"If you're sure," Tony said slowly.

"Just go, Stark. We can fend for ourselves without your company," Damian huffed, scowling up at his older brother for the "little people" comment, but brushed past him to go brood at the table while he waited for Jason to cook breakfast.

"'Mon'in, Daddy," Timmy mumbled as Jason walked by to deposit him in a chair beside Damian.

"Morning, Timmy," Tony said, smiling fondly at the sleep mussed toddler who had his normally neat hair sticking up in several cowlicks. "Daddy's going to go see some friends for a little bit, but I'll be back later, okay? So be good for your brothers."

"Yes, Daddy," Tim yawned.

After pouring himself a fresh cup of coffee, Tony headed down to the communal floor of Avengers Tower where the team usually met up for meals, meetings, and the rare occasions that they decided to hang out for non-training bonding activities like movie nights (those tended to happen a lot to help catch Cap up on what he'd missed during his time as a Capsicle). Bruce was already there in the kitchen, making an egg scramble by the look and smell of things.

"Morning, Tony," Bruce said, smiling as the engineer came in.

"Good morning, Brucie Bear," Tony said, pulling up a chair at the end of the breakfast bar. "How was the retreat?"

"Good. I learned a few new meditations that I think will be really effective. We might be able to implement them to help calm the Hulk down at the end of a mission," Bruce said, looking a lot more relaxed than he usually was. The normal underlying tension that always seemed to be present in his posture was muted and indeed more relaxed than any other time Tony had seen his fellow genius.

"That's great," Tony said, grinning as Bruce served him a plate with the egg scramble, a couple slices of toast and a few pieces of bacon.

"And how was your weekend?" Bruce asked, taking a sip from a mug of what Tony knew to be his friend's favorite blend of tea. Chai with a dash of cinnamon, by the smell of it.

"Productive," Tony said after deliberating for a couple seconds. "I got all of my projects done that were due this week and had Pepper reschedule all of this week's appointments."

"And why did you do that?" Bruce asked, eyes narrowing a touch. "What are you working on now?"

"Nothing, honestly," Tony said, grinning. "Just planning on taking it easy. I have a few guests staying with me throughout the week, so I may be unavailable except in cases of emergency of course."

Bruce frowned, putting his mug down. "What kind of guests? You don't normally see business partners here at the tower."

"No business guests," Tony said, waving it off. "Just old family friends."

Bruce looked like he might ask another question when the elevator dinged and a tired Cap, Widow and Hawk trudged into the room looking like they'd just come from the showers with damp hair and dressed in clean sweats.

"Something smells heavenly," Steve groaned as he took a seat next to Tony.

Bruce smiled as he wordlessly gave the super soldier his plate that he hadn't even touched before splitting the rest of the scramble between Clint, and Natasha. Then he put more toast in the toaster and began cooking more eggs and bacon.

"Thank you, Bruce," Steve said, grinning as he began to practically inhale the food. Natasha and Clint also muttered thanks to Bruce before digging in themselves. Tony sipped at his coffee and picked at his food, before sliding the half-eaten plate over to Steve who'd already polished off his.

Used to this and Tony's lack of appetite in the mornings, Steve only nodded thanks before he began to eat once more, going at a more normal pace and savoring Bruce's cooking. Bruce, however, frowned.

"Are you sure you had enough, Tony?" Bruce asked. "You said you were working all weekend finishing this week's projects. I know how you get when you're on an engineering grind. Did you even eat at all this weekend?"

Steve suddenly stopped eating, looking a bit sheepish.

"Yes, Mum, I did in fact eat three square meals every day this weekend," Tony snorted. "My PA made sure of that."

"Jason's back?" Natasha asked.

"Yup, so don't worry your pretty heads about me," Tony huffed.

"Who's Jason again?" Steve asked.

"That really tall punk kid that's built like a tank and pops up in the Tower on occasion," Clint said. "The one with the white streak in his hair."

"Oh. You mean Peters," Steve hummed, before taking another bite of food.

"Jason Peters, yeah," Clint yawned.

The conversation fell away to small talk while Bruce cooked up another scramble, this one a lot bigger than the last, and it proved to be a really good thing too, because just as they were dishing up seconds, the Tower shook slightly and JARVIS informed them that Thor had just arrived. Without a word, Bruce got out one of the big bowls they used for popcorn on movie nights and scooped the last of the scramble into it, setting it at the only open place at the counter just as Thor came out of the elevator with a bright smile.

"Greetings, my friends!" he boomed as he took a seat, beaming brilliantly at Bruce as he pulled the bowl of scrambled eggs towards him and accepted the plate of bacon and toast with the fork handed to him. The Asgardian prince then began to regale them with tales from his homeland and the realms he'd visited. As the group finished breakfast, Steve, Natasha, and Clint looked like they'd recuperated enough and declared that they needed to have an Avengers debrief to discuss their next steps on handling the scattered remains of Hydra. Tony sighed inwardly, already mourning the loss of a morning that he couldn't spend with Tim, Damian and Jason (and Dick whenever he returned).

But Tony resigned himself to sit through what was sure to be a long meeting as Cap told him, Bruce and Thor how the super spy trio and the newly reformed SHIELD's latest mission had gone down. There were no leads yet as to where Loki's scepter might be located, but there was rumor of another base in the Congo, one hopefully of more import than the two smaller ones Cap, Widow and Hawk had taken down that weekend in Spain. Then the meeting devolved into reviewing data and previous mission files to see if they could uncover anything they might have missed during their last debriefing. It was all very boring and repetitive, and Tony couldn't believe that they were still going well past noon and lunchtime. Tony didn't care that Steve had JARVIS order takeout. He wanted to spend time with those waiting for him in his penthouse. As it neared two o'clock, Tony had finally reached the end of his limit and was getting short with Steve. They'd been in there for five hours!

When Steve wasn't currently obsessed with trying to find his old pal, Bucky Barnes, he was like a dog with a juicy bone trying to take out the remains of Hydra.

"We've been at this for hours! Do I really need to be here?" Tony had finally snapped. "You're talking spy stuff now, which I'm pretty sure is Nat and Clint's area of expertise. Look, I'll have JARVIS put out feelers and data crawlers for any sign of a Hydra base in the Congo. I'll comb over all those operations files you guys leaked on the web after the Helicarrier fiasco in DC. Let me know when you decide to talk about something that's more relevant to the whole team."

"This is important, Stark," Steve snapped. "Hydra is dangerous!"

"I'm not saying that they aren't. I'm just saying maybe we should take a recess. Point Break's practically falling asleep here."

Thor jolted up into a more alert posture, but didn't manage to hide his quick blinks that indicated that he was in fact beginning to doze off.

"Let's wrap it up, Cap," Natasha said, stepping in before they could get into another argument. "We can't really act until we get more intelligence."

Steve pursed his lips, but sighed and began to summarize what they should be doing over the next few days. Tony rolled his eyes but began tapping away at his phone to get JARVIS started on running his assigned searches. While Steve was droning on and everyone else was pretending to be paying more attention than they really were, the door silently cracked open a tiny bit before closing just as soundlessly. Having their backs to it, Steve and Clint didn't notice it, nor did Thor or Bruce because they were doing their best not to doze off again, but Natasha's sharp eyes caught it. Because she was on the opposite side of the table from the door, however, she couldn't see if anything had entered.

A moment later Tony felt a light tug on his pants leg. He was so involved in tapping away at his phone to enter in the right search parameters for his assigned tasks that he thought nothing of it and simply bent over to scoop up the waiting toddler. Tim curled up in Tony's lap comfortably, tucking the blanket he'd brought around himself and into Tony's side before instantly falling asleep for his afternoon nap while Tony automatically adjusted his hold on his son.

Natasha stared, her eyes widening a fraction, which was the only indication of how shocked she was. After a minute, she elbowed Clint. Clint jolted, blinking owlishly before giving her a wounded look. Natasha only jutted her chin in Tony's direction in response. Clint looked over, staring with more obvious surprise. Bruce noticed the two spies' preoccupation and did a double take when he too noticed that Tony had a toddler sleeping in his lap. He nudged Thor and the Asgardian noticed what his fellows had, expressing more confusion than surprise in comparison. Finally Steve realized that no one was paying attention now and that everyone was looking at Tony for some reason. He was about to tell the engineer off again, when he noticed what everyone else had.

"Tony, what-" Steve started, getting the older man to look up from his phone just as the meeting room door was thrown open and a stressed looking Jason poked his head in.

"Sorry to interrupt, Mr. Stark, but-" Jason cut off when he noticed who was curled up on Tony's lap.

Tony looked down at his sleeping son, smiling fondly before flashing an amused smirk at the young man. "Lose someone, Jay?"

Jason grimaced. "Sorry. We knew you were in a meeting, but he was upset that you missed lunch even though I told him that you were eating with the Avengers. He wanted to see you before he went down for his nap. I thought I got him settled, and I swear I only turned my back for one second but the next thing I knew he was gone. I don't know how he got down here to be honest."

"JARVIS probably let him down," Tony chuckled as he got up from his seat, groaning softly when he felt his ass go numb from sitting for so long and all the joints in his arms and legs cracked as he stood. Damn, he was getting old. Tim grumbled as Tony readjusted his hold and lifted Tim up to cradle his boy's head by his sternum.

"Mmm… Daddy," Timmy whined. "Go sleep now. Nap time."

Tony grinned, rocking his boy gently. "That's right, Sport. Nap time sounds pretty good."

Tim mumbled incoherently for a few seconds before settling once more and began to snore softly.

"If you'll excuse me, Cap," Tony said, "I've got a child to put to bed. Just have Natasha or Bruce text me about anything else you want me to look into."

Before anyone could say anything, Tony was already out the door and entering the elevator for his private suite. Jason only shook his head and followed wordlessly. At least the next few days were sure to be interesting.

* * *

It took a moment for the Avengers to collect themselves after the shock they'd received upon hearing that kid call Tony "daddy."

"I was not aware Stark had children," Thor said.

"He doesn't," Natasha said, frowning. "SHIELD would have known."

"I dunno, Nat," Clint sighed. "Stark's always been a paranoid bastard. If he didn't want SHIELD to know about something, I wouldn't put it past him to find a way to keep something he wanted secret a secret."

"But to hide the existence of a child?" Steve said, sighing. "One that young? Keeping information, and tech secret is one thing, he's done that before, but how didn't one of us know about that kid? Tony's had his entire life under a microscope."

"And maybe that's why no one's heard of him," Clint said reasonably. "And who says that Stark hasn't known about the kid until recently? The guy's had his fair share of women over the years. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if he had a kid or two out there he didn't know about."

"I don't think so," Bruce said, removing his glasses and cleaning the lenses. "Tony's been loyal to Miss Potts since they began dating a few years ago. He hasn't seriously looked at another woman all this time and I think SHIELD and the media would have discovered if Miss Potts was pregnant."

"So where did the kid come from?" Clint asked.

"...Maybe it's not really his," Steve said. "Tony could have adopted him."

"That would have leaked to the media somehow," Clint protested.

"Maybe not. Stark is resourceful and - dare I say - even discrete when he wants to be," Natasha said calmly.

"That does seem more likely," Bruce said slowly. "Before you guys joined us for breakfast this morning, Tony was telling me that he'd completed all of his projects and rescheduled all of his meetings for this week because he has some guests staying with him."

"Guests?" Steve repeated. "Tony's never had anyone over here who wasn't Miss Potts, Mr. Hogan, Col. Rhodes, or the Peters kid."

"I thought it odd as well," Bruce admitted. "He said that his guests were old family friends, but anyone who knows Tony, knows that he couldn't stand Howard Stark and that he doesn't really deal with any of his father's old associates, especially after Stane's betrayal."

"Who?" Steve asked.

"You really gotta take another look at Stark's file, Cap," Clint sighed. "Obadiah Stane is essentially the reason Tony became Iron Man."

"He was a man Tony trusted and saw as a father figure after Howard and Maria Stark died," Natasha added. "Tony already had Daddy Issues, and Stane's betrayal only made it worst. In a way, Tony's sadly justified in his contempt and distrust for authority figures. He's never met one that hasn't tried to manipulate, use, or betrayed him for their own gains."

Steve frowned, but before he could say more, Thor cut in.

"I do not see how this has anything to do with the child who calls Stark his father," the Asgardian said. "You debate amongst yourselves upon the legitimacy of the boy being Stark's heir and how he came to be, and yet not one of you have considered how Stark himself behaved. I know not what you all saw when you looked upon the child and Stark as they left, but I did not see a man who has suddenly been entrusted with the care of some random child or unexpected offspring from dubious origins. The look on our friend's face and the care with which he cradled that boy to his bosom was a look I have seen on many a proud father's face when they hold a beloved child in their arms. There was much fondness and love in his gaze as he looked upon that small babe and I know in my heart that like any proud warrior parent, he'll protect and defend that boy till his dying days. I know I am unfamiliar with your customs here on Midgard, but I must ask that you have a care in how you speak about our shield brother and his son. Friend Stark hadn't told us about the child's existence before now for a reason. More than likely, for the boy's protection. Stark is a mighty warrior and from what I understand from your talk, many on this world have wished to do him harm even before he became the Iron Man. I can only imagine the pain, worry and horror that could be unleashed upon him, should his enemies learn he has a child."

The others were quiet for a moment, considering Thor's words. Though the Asgardian was not known for his wit and cunning, the man did have moments of great wisdom born out of his ability to understand the basic human condition. Thor's strength lay in the fact that he was more of a people person. He did not shy away from the crowd. He embraced it. And people trusted him for it.

"So what do we do?" Steve asked.

"Why must anything be done?" Thor asked. "Allow Stark time with his child. We've kept them apart long enough for today I think."

"That's… not what I meant," Steve said awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I think what Cap is trying to get at," Clint said, smiling wryly, "is how do we handle things from here? Stark may care for his kid, but you said so yourself how dangerous it is for the boy to be his son. That, and I can't imagine how Stark would be able to raise the poor thing. Stark's not exactly the responsible-for-other-human-beings type."

"I think you might be underestimating Tony there," Natasha said, eyes narrowed slightly in thought. "Thor's right. Tony handled that boy with care, and a natural ease that only comes from experience. There were no nerves or tension in the way he handled the child."

"So someone taught Stark how to hold a baby," Clint huffed. "Doesn't make him a responsible parent."

"You speak as if you wish to remove the child from Stark's care," Thor said grimly. "Why?"

"Easy, big guy," Clint said, holding up his hands in a warding gesture. "I'm just thinking that we should make sure that Stark is able to care for the kid and raise him right."

"As fascinating as this conversation sounds," Tony Stark's voice said dryly, cutting through the chatter like one of his repulsor blasts, "I would appreciate it if you'd keep Tim's existence to yourselves. For his safety, I do not want to hear that SHIELD or the media are suddenly aware that I have a son before I am ready to release that information myself."

"So he is yours," Steve said, looking up at the speaker Tony's voice was coming from.

"In every way but name," Tony said softly.

"Tony, why didn't you tell us you had a son?" Steve asked.

"I haven't told a lot of people," Tony said curtly. "Pepper, Happy and Rhodey only found out a few years ago."

"Only a few... Tony that kid can't be older than two," Clint protested.

"Actually, he's much older, but is three years old currently. He's always been small for his age," Tony said, voice grim, "We can discuss his condition and situation in greater detail later this evening after I've put him to bed for the night."

"Sounds good, Tony," Bruce said, before anyone else could say anything. "We'll see you then."

No other sound came from the speaker, but they were all sure Tony or at least JARVIS was listening.

"He's currently three years old, but that's not much older than two, like Tony implied the kid's real age to be," Bruce mused. "And he mentioned the boy having a condition and being in a situation, meaning that this boy isn't normally the toddler we saw."

"You don't think Tony got the kid mixed up in one of his experiments and somehow managed to shrink him or something, do you?" Steve asked, looking wary.

"No," Bruce said, shaking his head emphatically. "Tony's specialty is in engineering and programing. Biology is more my area of expertise. He wouldn't work on something that involved a living organism without my help or input, let alone in an environment where anyone besides himself may be affected. No, whatever is up with his kid, it was from something outside of Tony's sphere of influence. The kid didn't just find his way here. Someone brought him and made Tony aware of the situation."

"The guests staying with him on his floor suite. The old family friends," Natasha reasoned.

"More likely the boy's mother's family," Clint said. "Pepper can't like that too much."

"Regardless," Thor spoke up. "It would appear that Stark and his son are in need of help and as his friends and shield brothers we have a duty to help our comrade in whatever ways he deems necessary. If Stark wants our silence, then we shall keep it."

He met his fellow Avengers' gaze evenly and one by one they nodded back. They'd keep quiet. For now. But Tony had some explaining to do.

* * *

That afternoon, a post-nap Tim watched with rapt attention as Damian showed him how to care for and "properly" handle a hamster. It was adorable and Dick was taking as many pictures and video of the lessons as possible. He wondered why his youngest brothers couldn't get along like this when Tim was his real age.

"So they know about Timmy," Dick sighed after he stopped his latest recording.

"What are you going to tell them?" Jason asked, looking over at Tony who was seated on a rolling chair with a can of Coke in hand.

"The truth," Tony mused, frowning at the can and wishing it was a large mug of coffee. "Not everything of course - broad strokes at best, but they'll get the truth. If they don't know we're not the only superheroes in the world by now, and that there are foes deadlier than a crippled Hydra out there, then they should."

"Do you want us to be there with you?" Dick asked, getting a raised eyebrow from Jason.

"...I won't ask that of you," Tony said, shifting nervously. "Jason's still legally dead. If he's in the company of Dick Grayson and Damian Wayne… Natasha and Clint might make the connection to Jason Todd."

"So?" Jason scoffed. "I'm a big boy, Tony. I can handle myself. Besides, we've discussed bringing me back to life legally again for a while now. It just hasn't happened yet because I'm hardly in Gotham these days for more than an occasional patrol. We've got a cover story. A damn good one that Pepper and Rhodey can verify. JARVIS even has a doctored digital paper trail made to lay throughout the net at a moment's notice. So what's your real reason for not wanting us in there?"

"...Natasha and Clint have been with SHIELD for a long time," Tony said. "And they're the best. They were selected from all of SHIELD's personnel and deemed able to keep up with a supersoldier, a demigod, and a giant green rage monster. Not only are the two superspies capable of keeping up with them, but they hold their own. If anyone is going to catch you three out as vigilantes, it's those two. And Steve's got a solid intuition himself. They know soldiers. They know fighters. ...They might even be able to recognize Damian as an assassin's child if he's not careful."

They all saw the eleven-year-old's shoulders tense, but to the boy's credit, he kept talking to Tim and continued playing with the hamsters.

"So we leave the Bat Brat on babysitting duty," Jason said, shrugging, ignoring the paint stripping glare the boy aimed at him, no longer bothering to pretend that he wasn't listening to every word they were saying. "I'd still like it better if Dickie and I were with you."

"It's not like they're going to attack me," Tony huffed. "They're my team, Jason. I don't see why-"

"Aren't they going to attack you?" Jason growled. "Maybe not physically, but they'll question and judge you. I'm not going to stand for that crap anymore. As I told Dick yesterday, Tony, it bugs the ever living hell out of me whenever I hear someone go on about how selfish you are. It ticks me off because you're one of the most generous people I've ever known. Your so-called team has been working with you for almost three years and if they haven't realized what a good person you are by now, I'm going to make them see it. If they're going to be a team you're a part of and that I'm going to have to continue to trust to have your back and bring you home at the end of a mission, they better realize real quick that you're more than what you allow the majority of the world to see, and a much better person than what the media would like to make them believe."

Tony swallowed, throat tight as he listened to Jason's passionate speech. What had he ever done to deserve such loyalty?

"He's right," Dick said gently. "We'll be with you while you explain Tim's situation, because that's what family does. We may bug the hell out of each other a lot of the time, but when it matters, we stick together. If the Avengers can't handle that, if they can't be there for you like a team should, and betray your trust, well… I'm sure Bruce, Clark and Diana would be thrilled to welcome Iron Man into the Justice League. There's actually a bet going on between them about when you'll join up and who'll be the one to recruit you. Bruce's money is on Diana."

Tony snorted, shaking his head in wry amusement.

"Daddy?"

Tony looked down and saw that Tim was now standing before him. Damn his kid was quiet.

"I'm sorry," Tim mumbled. "I got you in twuh-bull didn't I? I wasn't s'pposed to go and inte-wupt Daddy's meeting. I was bad."

Tony could only smile softly as his kid shuffled from foot to foot on chubby little legs before he sighed and picked Tim up to settle on his lap and hold him close. It was kind of nice being able to hold Tim like that. Tim had grown into such a thin gangly kid, with pointy limbs, it had been like holding a bundle of sticks whenever he'd had the nerve to give the boy a hug. Then when he'd matured into a young man, he was solid and built with corded muscle that held such strength within. But Tim as he was at three was this small bouncy bundle of joy rounded with baby fat that made him more soft and cuddly. When Tim had been this age before, Tony hadn't known much about children or how to handle and hold them, but after almost two decades of experience getting to know and help guide his son, Tony wished he'd known then what he knew now. If he had, he might have been able to be a real dad to Tim. Maybe he would have talked more with Janet about parental rights and visitation. Granted, he still knew next to nothing about normal children, but he felt that if he knew then what he did now, he'd have made different decisions regarding Tim's upbringing.

"You didn't get me in trouble," Tony chuckled, rocking his boy gently in his arms. "If anything, you got me out of a boring meeting that was taking forever to end. Thanks for that. Though next time, have one of your brothers come get me or bring you to me instead of just sneaking in."

"Yes, Daddy," Tim said, smiling shyly.

"Good. Now go play," Tony said, giving in to a random impulse that had him kiss Tim's forehead before turning him loose. Tim giggled before scurrying off to play with the hamsters again.

* * *

"I'm going with you," Damian declared that evening after Tim had been put to bed for the night. "I care not what your team thinks of me, but rest assured, I shall not dishonor my father and give myself away."

The three men looked at each other. Todd shrugged, looking like he could care less while Richard leveled a blank but expecting stare at Stark, who was looking between the two of them and Damian.

Damian stood his ground and met Stark's gaze evenly. Despite what Drake thought of him (when he was his actual age), Damian knew when to argue and when to hold his tongue. Right now was not the time to argue. He needed to prove that he could contain himself from the start if they were going to let him face the Avengers alongside them.

Finally Stark let out a quiet sigh and nodded.

Damian squashed the thrill of … something that he felt shoot through his body upon seeing Todd's smirk, Richard's approving nod, and Stark's fond eye roll that failed to hide the elder man's amusement.

"Better leave the knives behind then, Lil' D," Richard said, smiling fondly as Damian huffed and disarmed himself in a pointed manner, making sure that they could see every weapon he was removing from his person before entering the elevator with them.

Damian clenched his jaw as they descended. It felt wrong to go unarmed to face other so-called "heroes," but if Richard and Todd could do it, then so could he. He tensed slightly when he felt a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it. He wanted to snap and snarl at Richard to leave him be, but contained himself when he realized that it was Stark holding on to him. He could feel the faint tremor in the man's hand and felt a small pang of worry. Despite what he usually claimed about his team's competence, did Stark really trust his team so little?

The elevator slowed as it reached the floor beneath Stark's penthouse suite and a moment before the door opened, Stark let Damian go. Damian watched him in that short instant before the door opened. Stark held his head high, his expression blank. Then the doors opened the the blank expression morphed into a bored one as the man led the way out, gait confidant with that arrogant swagger Damian had seen in the man's stride since the day they'd first met.

Damian swallowed, letting his own bored and expressionless mask fall before following Stark's lead, positioned between Richard and Todd.

Stark led them to a meeting room where the other Avengers were already assembled, seated around a table. Their gazes were expectant, though many looked surprised to see him. Damian forced back the impulse to sneer at them.

"Ah, good," Stark said, clapping his hands together as he pulled out a seat and kicked his legs up on the table. "The gang's all here."

"With company," a small man said lightly, gaze flickering between Damian, Richard and Todd behind his glasses. Damian identified him as Dr. Banner. From what he'd heard and managed to find about the Avengers, Banner was perhaps the only one Stark was actually companionable with.

"You all know my PA and bodyguard, Jason Peters," Stark said, indicating Todd who was leaning against the door, arms crossed. "With us is Dick Grayson and Damian Wayne."

Damian withheld a flinch when the red haired spy looked at him, eyes assessing. Her companion, the archer, was also looking at him with interest. Clearly they recognized the Wayne name. How could they not? The Wayne family name was as renowned as Stark and Queen in the business world, and just as well known for its philanthropic playboys. It made international news whenever Oliver Queen, Bruce Wayne, and Tony Stark were all in one place for something.

However, Captain Rogers and the alien, Thor, clearly did not.

"Why are they here, Tony?" Rogers asked, frowning as he looked at Damian and gave Stark a look of disapproval.

"Because they are involved," Stark said glibly as he pulled up a hologram photograph of Drake dressed in a suit speaking to Stark and Bruce Wayne at the gala that been held on New Years Eve. "Any of you recognize this young man?"

"Timothy Jackson Drake-Wayne," Romanov stated. "Seventeen years old, yet already acting CEO of Wayne Enterprises. He's a renowned child genius…"

Damian could tell the moment she made the connection and found the relevance of what Stark was showing them. Barton wasn't far behind. The Captain was a touch slower.

"And how is this relevant?" Thor asked.

"It's relevant because my adopted older brother is Stark's biological son," Damian announced.

"This is Timmy as he normally is," Richard cut in. "Gotham, unfortunately, has it's great many troubles with an assortment of colorful and sometimes superpowered criminals, and because of that, it has a reputation of being a No Man's Land to the rest of the country. A few years ago, it officially was for a good chunk of the year, but that was before your team came together. This past weekend, my younger brothers came across one of these villains, and Timmy was de-aged into his three-year-old self. Damian brought him to his father, who had them brought here to Tony."

"So you're trying to figure out how to change him back?" Banner asked.

"Tim was hit by a spell," Stark explained. "According to Batman, the magician Zatanna believes that it'll just wear off within the week."

"Batman? Zatanna? Who are they?" Rogers asked.

"Is he serious?" Damian scoffed, looking over at Richard. "Zatanna, I can understand, but tell me these fools are at least familiar with who Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman are."

"Easy, Dami, Captain America was stuck in a block of ice for 70 years, remember?" Richard said gently.

"That's no excuse," Damian grumbled. "The Justice League may not be as prominent in the public eye as the Avengers are because they serve no single government, but they are known around the world. How can any competent team of heroes not be aware of them?"

"We're aware of them," Romanov claimed. "We just don't know their full roster."

"Please," Damian sneered. "Rogers didn't recognize Batman, a founder and one of the most prominent members of the Justice League."

"Batman's also a secretive bastard who keeps to the shadows and only concerns himself with matters outside of Gotham when it either suits him or involves the potential end of the world," Jason huffed.

"The point ," Stark snapped, "is that Tim has already been assessed by an expert in magics, and will return to his normal state when the spell wears off. That is the situation. All we can do is wait for him to return to normal."

"Great. That explains what they're doing here," Rogers said, leaning forward in his chair, "but that doesn't explain how you have a son and why you never told us about him in the first place."

"As much as I would love to educate you on where babies come from," Stark said with a smirk, "How my son came to be is none of your business. I'm entitled to a private life outside of Stark Industries and the Avengers. As for why I didn't tell you, it honestly didn't cross my mind to tell you about Tim until yesterday. When I'm here, I am Iron Man. I'm doing my job to help keep the Earth safe, and as much as I act out, my mind is always here, on the team and on the job. And as for why it took you seeing him to learn about him, realize that I have kept the fact that I even had a son a secret from everyone since the day he was born. He was raised by his mother, because I was not ready to be a parent. When she died, I entrusted him to Bruce Wayne for his safety because by that time I was Iron Man."

"Why Wayne?" Romanov asked.

"Very few are aware of this because of their business rivalry, but Tony and Bruce have been good friends since they were teenagers," Richard explained. "I've known Tony since I became Bruce's ward. They may bicker and challenge each other in public, putting on a show for the masses, but in private, they're really close."

"Practically brothers, some would say," Todd added, smirking as Stark gave him a stern look.

"Which makes Tony family," Richard concluded, looking put upon.

"And family means that no one is left behind," Todd quipped.

"Or forgotten," Richard just had to add, finishing the quote as he smiled fondly at Todd, who only rolled his eyes.

Damian scoffed under his breath. His so-called "older brothers" were such sentimental fools.

"Your name isn't Jason Peters, is it?" Romanov asked, looking at Todd. The other Avengers looked alarmed.

See? Fools. Stark had warned them about the former assassin's sharp intellect and keen perception and observation skills.

"No," Todd said, calm as you please even though he gave a pointed look at Richard, who had the decency to look sheepish. "It's Todd, actually."

"Wait, are you saying you're Jason Todd? As in Wayne's second ward?" Barton exclaimed, eyebrows so high they nearly reached his hairline.

"What's so surprising about that?" Rogers asked.

Damian huffed. "Do you know anything?"

"Dami," Richard said, warningly.

"Jason Todd died nearly seven years ago," Romanov explained to her teammates. "A tragic accident while overseas in Ethiopia, the papers claimed."

"Well clearly that isn't true," Barton said, gesturing to the young man.

"Perhaps," Romanov said, eyeing all of them, making Damian narrow his eyes at her.

Damn it! Stark was right. The woman clearly knew more than they'd been aware of. She might even suspect…

"The part about it being an accident at any rate," Romanov added. "SHIELD has had it's eye on you, Todd. You've got quite an… _interesting_ second job."

Todd's eyes narrowed, but he refused to say anything.

"What do ya mean, Nat?" Barton asked, the other Avengers looking curiously over at her before glancing over at Stark, who remained reclined in his chair, but with an expressionless mask in place.

"Stark… are you aware that your PA/bodyguard moonlights as a vigilante?" Romanov asked.

"He what?!" Rogers incredulous expression was mildly humorous, and Damian might have found it amusing if it weren't for the fact Romanov was about to deduce and out his entire family.

"He's the Red Hood," Romanov said calmly. "I've known for a while now. I've been keeping tabs on you, Jason, since you started working at Stark Industries as Stark's PA. Off the record, of course. Fury had thought about recruiting you for the Avengers Initiative until we realized how young you were. Stark didn't appear to know about your activities as Red Hood, however, so we maintained our distance and kept an eye on both of you. Then you formed that Outlaws team of yours and began doing a lot more good than bad, so we decided to leave you alone and see what you'd become."

"Hold on," Barton said, frowning. "The Red Hood first pinged on SHIELD's radar four years ago as a Gotham drug trafficker and gang boss known for leaving a tail of dead and bloody bodies in his wake. We lost some good agents who were undercover in some of the Gotham gangs trying to figure out who he was. SHIELD eventually decided to withdraw and leave him for Batman to deal with. Are you saying this kid did all that? Jesus! How old are you?"

Now the Avengers were looking at Jason warily, making the young man grin sharply.

"21," he said smugly. "I was 17 when I made my debut as Red Hood. Those sure were some wild times. I remember leading Batman and Nightwing on a merry chase around Gotham's rooftops the first time we met and nearly got them blown up and run over by a train. Batman knew to take me seriously after that. No wait… That was after Black Mask became a big pain in my ass. It sure was fun launching that rocket into his office."

"Jesus," Barton muttered again.

Rogers looked stunned, Banner was wary and tense, Romanov was back to staring in that assessing manner of hers, and Thor looked grim.

"Jason," Richard scolded, features pinched as he glared at the younger man.

Jason's only response was to give his predecessor a vicious smile and the middle finger.

"How can you be so cavalier about hurting others and causing such destruction?" Rogers asked Todd before turning to Stark. "And how could you hire someone like him, Tony? What were you thinking? I thought you were against the abuse of weapons, and yet you hire some gun toting lunatic as your PA and bodyguard?"

"Hey, back off, Captain Asshat," Jason snapped. "Tony gave me a second chance, which was more than anyone else ever did back then. I was messed up, I know that, I'd like to see how well you cope with being brought back to life."

"I was frozen in ice for seventy years after crashing into an ice shelf with a plane full of bombs," Rogers said grimly, and he may of had a point, Damian conceded, if he were speaking to anyone who wasn't Jason Todd.

"Yeah? Well I'm sorry you're stuck in a time so different to what you've been used to. But how much of that crash do you remember? How did you wake up? I bet you blacked out before the plane hit the ice, and that you woke up as if you'd only fallen asleep," Todd said with mock sympathy. "Well fuck you asshole. I wish your problems were mine. Then I might have been able to sleep well the first few years of my second life."

"Language," Rogers scolded. "There is a child present."

"The demon brat's heard much worse, trust me," Todd sneered.

"Young man, you know not what you speak of," Thor said sternly. "The good Captain has been through many a trial in his life. He is a honorable man and he deserves your respect for the service he's done for your people."

"And what has Captain America ever done for me?" Todd snapped, baring his teeth.

"Jason," Stark and Richard said in scolding and warning tones.

"No! You know what? Fuck that shit," Todd exploded. "I'll respect the man when he starts showing you some respect in return. He knows nothing about me. He doesn't know what it's like to grow up with a good for nothing abusive asshole father who drank and beat on me and my old lady until he went to prison and died. He never had to deal with a drug addict mother, who spent every cent we had on drugs and alcohol to get her next fix instead of on food and rent and needed to be taken care of until she ODed. He's never had to make a living on Gotham's streets doing everything he had to just to make it through the day until he got lucky enough to get caught stealing the wheels off the right rich guy's car. And as much as I appreciated Bruce Wayne taking me in, it was hard as hell dealing with the rich and mighty of Gotham's high society when all they saw was the street urchin I grew up as. Because I was too loud. Too rough. Too violent. And you can deny it all you want, Dickie, but you hated me back then because all you saw me as was as your replacement. And that was all I was for a long time to everybody. The only one who ever saw me as me was Tony. So when I found out that the woman that raised me wasn't my real mother, I tried to find her and wound up in Ethiopia."

Todd laughed darkly, and Damian could see everyone tense.

"You think you've got it rough, Rogers? Try being betrayed by woman you gave birth to you. How would you feel if your own mother handed you over to one of the world's most sadistic and psychotic killers? Tell me, Rogers, have you ever heard of the Joker?"

Romanov and Barton looked grim, expressions dark. Even Banner looked sick. Thor only looked confused. Rogers however, looked warily at the young man standing on the opposite side of the table from him before shaking his head negatively.

"JARVIS," Todd snapped.

A second later a hologram of the Clown Prince of Crime himself appeared, grinning madly with glittering eyes.

"This piece of shit is the Joker," Todd said softly, but clearly, anger simmering in his tone. "My own mother sold me out to this monster and I was beat over and over and over again with a crowbar." Then Jason snapped out a baton and extended it, miming a blow and began to talk in his best (and eerily good) Joker voice. "Wow, that looked like it really hurt." Another swing. "Whoa. Now, hang on, that looked like it hurt a lot more. So let's try and clear this up, okay pumpkin? What hurts more? A?" Todd swung across his body over the table. "Or B?" Todd swung the baton back. "Forehand?" Another swing forward. "Or backhand?" Another swing back.

Damian swallowed. He'd never heard Todd go into detail about his death at the Joker's hand before.

"Jason." Richard said gently, gripping Jason's baton wielding hand. "Enough. I think we get the point."

Todds eyes were blazing with a whirl of emotions, and were very very green, but he grit his teeth and allowed Richard to take the baton from him.

"It went on for hours and he'd laugh and laugh," Todd said roughly. "I thought it'd ever end. He beat me with that crowbar until I was nearly dead. But then he decided to leave and I wasn't dead yet. I thought I had my chance to escape and crawled to the door, but the warehouse door was locked and I found a timer with 10 seconds ticking down my last moments. I first life ended in a burning blaze, with his psychotic laughter ringing mockingly in my ears."

Todd glared definitely at the Avengers seated opposite them. Many of them looked ill.

"Why would the Joker want you?" Barton managed to asked after a long uncomfortable moment of silence. "From what I know about the psycho, he was more focused on causing mayhem and fighting the Batman. Why would he travel to Ethiopia away from the limelight just to beat you up?"

"Because he was Batman's second Robin," Romanov said softly, eyes widening. "The timing fits. The second child to bare the Robin mantel disappeared from the hero scene for up to a year before the next one made his debut. Right around the time Jason Todd was declared dead."

Jason's expression was blank, Richard's worried, and Stark's was grim. Damian held his breath, waiting to see where this was going. If Romanov realized who Todd was…

"I see now… you were the first Robin," Romanov declared, looking at Richard. Richard clenched his jaw, but neither confirmed or denied the claim. "And you," she looked at Damian, "are the current Robin."

"He's just a kid," Rogers protested.

"All Robins start out as kids in their early teens," Romanov said. "I'll admit that the current Robin, Damian, isn't it? Is younger than his predecessors."

Damian scowled, wondering why Richard wasn't denying who they are.

"Wait," Barton said, frowning. "If they're the first, second and current Robins, then that means…"

"That young Tim is likely another Robin," Romanov said, narrowing her eyes at Tony. "And Bruce Wayne is-"

"Batman," Tony said calmly, but it took Damian a second to realize that Tony wasn't addressing any of them, but the newcomer in the dark doorway to the room.

"Holy shit!" Barton yelped, nearly tumbling from his seat as Batman's piercing gaze swept the room from behind the white-out lenses. The Avengers stared in surprise at the dark clad figure that seemed to have materialize out of nowhere.

"Tony," Batman said in his grim deep voice produced by a voice changer Stark himself had designed years ago. "We need to talk. It's about Tim's condition."

Damian watched Stark's complexion pale. The man was on his feet in an instant and joined Batman at the door. They stepped out and were gone for a few long and agonizingly tense and silent minutes before the door opened again, but only Batman appeared. The Dark Knight's gaze swept around the room before landing on his sons. Damian and his elder brothers straightened immediately.

"We'll talk about what was discussed here later," he said firmly before anyone could speak, "Tonight some minor rogues have escaped from Arkham. Batgirl and the Birds of Prey are already on the job, but they could use a hand with damage control. Damian, you're to remain here at the Tower. Jason, Dick, I need you two to suit up and return to Gotham. Oracle will debrief you on who you're pursuing and where to go on the road. You may return once the missing rogues are back in Arkham."

Todd and Richard nodded, hurrying out the door.

"Wait," Damian cried, hurrying forward when Batman turned to follow. "I'm coming too."

"No, you're not," Batman said sternly, white lenses flashing. "Not with that arm."

Damian scowled, glaring at the cast on his arm.

"But I can help," he insisted.

"I said no, Damian," Batman said firmly, his tone leaving no room for argument. "They're only minor rogues. Mad Hatter and Riddler are the most high profile. Jason and Dick should be able to handle it with the Birds of Prey. I need you here, with Tony."

"But-"

"Damian," Batman snapped before sighing. He looked over the Avengers again with his jaw set in a grim slant. Then he looked back at his son and kneeled so that their faces were level with each other. "Damian, Zatanna and Martian Manhunter were able to find and apprehend Klarion. They discovered that the hex Klarion cast on Tim has a rather… serious side effect when it's reversed."

Damian felt a small wave of dread pass through him.

"What kind of side effect?"

"The kind the forces the body to regrow at a rapid rate. It's been known to kill some of its victims. Fortunately for Tim, he's only missing fourteen years," Batman said gently. "He's still rather young, and strong meaning he has a chance, but the growing pains are going to still be pretty intense. He'll start feeling them a day or two before he changes back and they'll only get worse until the spell reverses completely. Tony's going to need your support. Can I count on you to be here for him and your brother?"

"...Yes sir," he said, not liking it, but if his father wanted him to help Stark…

"Thank you, Damian," Batman hugged him, causing Damian to stiffen in surprise until his father whispered in his ear. "Tony doesn't think straight when he's overly worried, especially where Tim's concerned. I need you to keep an eye on him and have his back. I don't trust these Avengers. You're the best choice. They'll underestimate you."

Ah. That made sense. Damian straightened, looking up at his father in a determined manner.

"You can count on me."

"I know I can."

Batman placed his hand on Damian's shoulder as he stood, squeezed it one, and then he was gone with a swish of his cape.

* * *

As a lot of you may have noticed, when it comes to the Avengers characters I'm writing them very close to how I perceive their coworker-MCU relationship to Tony to be and not the happy family 2012 dream team (as the lovely MarsDiogenes put it in one of their comments) that we'd all love them to be after 2012's Avengers.

This chapter was put together over 4 different writing binges, I feel the need to justify.

The beginning chapter was written shortly after I posted chapter 1 of this story, so the breakfast scene was written with me in a much happier mindset and we do get a more camaraderie feel from the team in this moment. Then about a month past and I saw Winter Soldier again and Steve and Nat kinda got a bit jaded in my mindset during the debriefing scene because of the whole Hydra-SHIELD business because why wouldn't they be a bit guarded after finding out that the organization they'd been working for was half-villians? Also, I may have begun projecting some of my post Civil War grudge onto Steve, so I apologize to all Steve fans. It's not that I don't love Steve's character (I do love the guy, I've cosplayed as him for Halloween for the last 3 years even after CW) it's just that CW left me with some very ugly feelings towards him and sadly it shows a bit here and it carried throughout the rest of the chapter. I'll do my best to write him better during the rest of the fic, because we haven't really gotten to delve into his mind yet, and really he's just concerned about Tony and Tim's situation, concerned and disapproving about Damian being a child soldier because it's wrong, and then there is his worry about Bucky and his need to find him and take out the remains of Hydra... so he's not at his best at the moment, but he's not a bad guy. He's just got a lot on his mind and a lot of new future stuff he still needs to learn about. So no worries. Steve'll get better. Though the Bats won't make it easy on him because they are firmly in Tony's corner.

On a lighter note, the moment where Tim sneaks into the meeting and Tony just plops him in his lap like it's the most natural thing in the world was something I've had planned since the beginning of this fic. That's how I always saw the Avengers seeing Tim for the first time and I loved it so I hope you guys did too. As for the Avenger's conversation afterwards... can you tell that I saw Thor Ragnarok and had writing binge 3 soon after? The man just suddenly got all wise on me and I couldn't help but think... yeah. Thor would react differently from the others and see the personal side first wouldn't he? He just strikes me as more of a people person after all he's been through in his films. I had to rewatch the first two after I saw Ragnarok and after "loosing" Loki in Dark World, I feel Thor might have started to become more introspective and think back on how he'd treated his brother growing up. I just see him as a more understanding character I guess. :P His dialogue is a bit hard to hammer down (ha!) though so I hope I did it well.

I wasn't sure if I wanted to add Damian's bit (which really got away from me) in this chapter and wait to make it the beginning of chapter 3, but Christmas came and went, and then New Years came, I got sick, and it went, so I thought you guys deserved to have a bit more and thought the way this ended was pretty good. But HOLY BATMAN Jason! This is what I got for watching Under the Red Hood again while I was sick on New Years Eve. Jason in these stories just has a habit of stealing the show and getting right in your face with his problems. And then the Bat comes out of the bag and Batman decides to make an appearance and shit can't just not hit the fan because of course something wrong has to happen with Tim and... I both love and hate how much of the plot bunnies for this series gets away from me. I wanted a happy fluffy piece damn it all! Seriously, how do most of my stories turn to angst?! This is what happens I guess when I write the Bats into anything. :P

Any-who, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter despite it's many levels of angst and lack of fluff, but we'll get better next chapter I swear! The Avengers know about Timmy and the bats now, which means bat shenanigans and Tiny Tim cuteness before more angst. Ugh! Happy New Year!


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